Both spoke to the inner drama queen we all possess
Aw, no, Jim Steinman and Les McKeown gone in the same week! Steinman, 73, composer extraordinaire of Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell, had deep roots in musical theatre and the dark blood of rock’n’roll bombast squirting through his veins. McKeown, 65, singer with 1970s phenomenon the Bay City Rollers, was the strutting, half-mast trousered tartan keeper of the true teen spirit.
While obviously very different, Steinman and McKeown had at least one thing in common – they wound up the purists, the très sérieux musos, something rotten. Even as tributes poured in, there were those who couldn’t resist pointing out they weren’t fans. Variations of “I didn’t care for the music, but…”. What provokes this sort of mealy-mouthed nonsense? As if affection for particular artists must be carefully rationed if they’re not deemed to be of cultural value.
